Kate MccGwire

b, 1964, Norfolk, United Kingdom

‘I gather, collate, re-use, layer, peel, burn, reveal, locate, question, duplicate, play and photograph’ - Kate MccGwire

British sculptor Kate MccGwire is internationally renowned for her distinctive anthropomorphic sculptures, wall pieces and dark graphite drawings. Her works are primarily made from the naturally discarded ephemera of birds such as feathers, quills and bones. MccGwire reconfigures organic matter to offer second life in the form of sculpture. Employing natural materials, the artist uses the techniques of a plumassier to explore the play of opposites at an aesthetic, intellectual and visceral level. The artist first began working in this unusual medium when she started collecting fallen pigeon feathers in a shed near her studio. Mccgwire realized that the bird generally condescended upon as a “rat with wings” was actually exceedingly beautiful. Since then she has sourced a variety of plumage from pigeon racers, local farms and gamekeepers.

MccGwire has resided and worked on a barge moored on an island on the waterways of London for over a decade. This parallels a key influence in her life – a childhood in the Norfolk Broads amongst a myriad of bird and marine life. The floating studio bears witness daily to the hierarchical order and fragility of the natural world and its surrounding ecosystem. Such observations pose questions of a philosophical nature, some of which form the basis for recurring themes in the artist’s ongoing work. The varied assortment of organic detritus such as feathers that first fell near the boat captured the artist’s attention, and the medium beckoned to her ever since. The distinct contours that twist and curve in MccGwire’s sculptural forms also refer to early experiences with her father, a boat builder who first taught the artist to make knots. The serpentine sculptures displayed in found antique cabinets mimic such strong and robust knots, while their scale reflects the majestic human representations of Greco-Roman style. The animal form and human scale present a unique hybrid of wildlife and man. Where the artist’s hand painstakingly attaches hundreds of feathers to the sculpted armature, alchemy asserts itself, suggesting a transformation of the lifeless into something majestic and unique.

MccGwire caught the attention of collector Charles Saatchi in 2004 over her degree show at the Royal College of Art in London, where she covered an entire wall with 27,000 chicken wishbones (a quantity which took five months to collect from poultry processors). Since graduating, MccGwire’s uncanny sculptures have been exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery (London), the Museum of Art and Design (New York), and recently at Glasstress, an official collateral event of the Venice Biennale. The sculptor regularly exhibits her work internationally, with upcoming solo shows for the fall at the Royal Monceau Hotel in Paris. MccGwire was also recently awarded the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts’ 2018 Jack Goldhill Award for Sculpture.

Kate MccGwire is represented by Galerie Huit. Puerta Roja is proud to present her work in the 2018 collaborative exhibition, Reflections.